Netanyahu Slams Corbyn Over Memorial of Munich Attackers

(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the U.K.’s opposition Labour Party for attending a 2014 ceremony where a wreath was laid in memory of Palestinians suspected of being behind the so-called Munich massacre.

On Saturday, the Daily Mail published pictures showing Corbyn holding a wreath near the graves of four Palestinians believed to be connected to the Black September Organization, which carried out the 1972 attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.

Labour initially said that the ceremony in Tunisia was in memory of those killed in Israel’s 1985 bombing of the Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters. But on Monday, Corbyn conceded that others had been remembered as well.

“A wreath was indeed laid,” he told Sky News. “I was present when it was laid. I don’t think I was actually involved in it.” On Twitter, Netanyahu accused Corbyn of laying a wreath himself, and of comparing Israel to Nazis. He said this deserved “unequivocal condemnation” from those on all sides of politics.

Corbyn swiftly hit back, saying Netanyahu’s “claims about my actions and words are false.” He added: “What deserves unequivocal condemnation is the killing of over 160 Palestinian protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces since March, including dozens of children.”

Since becoming Labour leader in 2015, Corbyn has struggled with accusations that his long-time support for Palestine has seen him associate with terrorists and anti-Semites. He is currently fighting his own lawmakers about whether to adopt the international definition of anti-Semitism, something he is resisting.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson

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